Women Are Better Than Men at Endurance Sports, Science Says

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Girl power! It turns out women can outlast men at endurance exercises such as running a marathon by a wide margin.

Findings published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that males are faster and more powerful at first but became more fatigued much faster than females.
Recalling Aesop’s fable about the Tortoise and the Hare is totally just on this occasion. Using this tortoise mindset combined with greater muscle endurance and more efficient fat burning abilities, women are quietly dominating events like ultra-marathons, swimming, and cycling.

Last year, cyclist Lael Wilcox became the first woman to win the Trans Am, a 4,300-mile race from Oregon to Virginia, which took her just over 18 days. Wilcox trounced male riders with her closest male rival, Steffen Streich, finishing 2 hours after her.

Brian Dalton, a professor of neurophysiology at the University of British Columbia reflects on the reality TV show Survivors, stating that he wasn’t surprised most successful competitors were female. Dalton observed that the women were considerably less exhausted after endurance activities in comparison to men of a similar age and athletic ability.

So, the answer is pretty definitive: Women can outlast men at endurance sports, and as a self-proclaimed #sportygirl I am massively intrigued as to how female athletes will change the sporting landscape and begin to lead on previously male-dominated events.

This post was written by Rhona McDade. For more, check out our sister siteThe Debrief.